magick musings…

…stay so busy????

Rewind to two Fridays ago. Our good friends M & L invited us to a Double A baseball game a little ways from here. We started the fun by having dinner at the Cheesecake Factory where I split a pizza with L and GW had ribs and M an interesting sandwich. This was the first time to eat at the Cheesecake Factory and I opted for the Vanilla Bean cheescake for dessert which totally rocked. My mouth still waters thinking about it.

It had been forever since I attended a live baseball game and it was so much fun. Through L & M’s conections, we met one of the pitchers of the visiting team and that made it special. Is it my imagination or are they just making them so young nowdays? We stayed for the fireworks afterwards and we were all pretty impressed with the show. The only drawback was that it was so frickin’ HOT! It started out at 100+ degrees and once the sun set, it only went down to about 100.

Ahhh…Texas in the summer.

Fast forward to the next weekend. We visited a Farmer’s Market and brought home tomatoes, peaches, plums, and cantelopes. Then we scooted on down the road to M & L’s and grilled and swam the afternoon away. I swear, GW has a fixation about getting my hair wet. What part of ‘I don’t want to get it wet’ am I not making clear to him, LOL? But this time I was ready. Instead of spending the rest of the day looking like a drowned rat – I brought a girl’s baseball hat and put it on. So, instead of a wet rodent I looked like a wet dork.

RWA Nationals was last weekend and I have been hearing and reading so many great things about it. All the loops are buzzing and the motivation and energy is running high. Next year it is in Nashville and I am making plans to attend.

Still moving forward on my goals mentioned here. I am writing some every day even if it is a couple of paragraphs. Right now I am involved in Candace Havens word challenge. I did my 500 words yesterday and almost fainted at the 1142 words that are due today. Wow! Wonder if that means counting the 500 words yesterday? LOL! Somehow I don’t think so. Candy is all about tough love and getting things done.

Back to work…

Stay Cool!

~Sandy

I have a new goal!

…thanks to Geri for sending me the info on the call for anthology submissions for Samhain.

Theme: Angels! And, just take a wild guess at what I am working on at the present time? Yep, you got it!

And it’s not due until November 1!

Okay, here’s the plan:

By Monday, June 13 – have storyline finished.

By September 30, have 30,000 words completed.

October 31 – have critiques and revisons done.

November 1 – send that completed, polished puppy off to the publisher.

I can do it…I can do it…

Gasp! It feels just as scary to do this as it was to do my Faerie story.

I can do it…I can do it…

On another note, hope everyone had a wonderful fourth of July. Was busy in the morning, but that afternoon feasted on GW’s ribs and then rolled ourselves over to The Chair for an evening of reading, watching fireworks on TV, talking, and laughing. Was too hot to trek outdoors to play for anything more than a late evening stroll around the neighborhood on Sunday after running errands such as grocery shopping and, of course, a quick visit to one of our favorite tool shops and then on to the mall for a few things I needed. I got an urge to buy The Four Seasons Greatest Hits (Franki Valli NOT Uvaldi like Brenda first thought, LOL which I am still not sure who that is) to add to my iPod and now I have a rockin’ folder with Oldie but Goodies that has approximately 115 songs ranging from the 50’s to the 80’s. I have over 900 songs total on my iPod and I love it, love it, love it!

Just give me my iPod and my netbook and I can stay out of trouble for hours. Most of the time.

Looks like time to eat dinner. BTW, the roasted chicken was fab last week! And very healthy. I gave the recipe to a friend and she also said her family loved it.

Stay cool!

~Sandy

Me panicked: Hey, the WiFi on my netbook is not working!

GW calmly: Why not?

Me panicked: I don’t know why not. It was working a minute ago.

GW calmly: Reboot it.

Me panicked: I DID! And it’s still not working. I have to have it. It HAS to work! What’s wrong with it???

GW calmly: I don’t know. What did you do?

Me panicked: I didn’t DO anything! It just stopped working. One minute I was on a website and then it stopped working. I can’t get on ANY of the websites I need to be on. I NEED to have internet access.

GW calmly: Why? The netbook was strictly for writing on.

Me panicked: Um, sure. It is. But I have to have access to the internet! You know, research and everything.

GW calmly: Uh huh, sure. Did you make a point recovery backup?

Me panicked: Point recovery backup? Um, no. Was I supposed to do that?

GW calmly: Well, it helps for situations like this.

Me panicked: But I didn’t know. What do I do now? Does it have to go back to the factory? I don’t want to take it back. I have to have it.

GW calmly: Let me take a look at it. We might have to do a whole recovery on it.

Me panicked: What does that mean? What happens then? Will that make it work?

GW calmly: Yes, it will work. It restores it back to the factory settings.

Me panicked: Will I have to reload all my programs?

GW calmly: Yes.

Me panicked: NO!

GW calmly: Do you want it to work?

Me panicked: Of course! I NEED it to work.

GW calmly: Here’s the problem.

Me panicked: What? What is the problem? Is it broke?

GW calmly: Well, you might say that.

Me panicked: Oh, NO! What’s wrong? Does it have to go back to the factory? Can you fix it?

GW calmly: I already did.

Me no longer in a panic: You did? Cool! Is it working? What was wrong with it?

GW calmly: See this button here?

Me happy: Yeah, it has a little antenna thingy on it. What’s that for? Is it broke? Did you fix it?

GW patiently and calmly: No, it’s not broke. It turns the WiFi off and on. And guess what?

Me sheepishly with a red face: I turned it off?

GW shaking his head calmly: Oh, Babe!!!!

~Sandy

…Sunday was the first day of summer and it arrived with on the wings of hell!

A non-writer friend of mine inquired that now I finished one book – how do I start another? Where do the ideas come from, how do I decide what I am going to write, what do I do next.

My answer was I don’t know. Everyone does it different.

Are you working on something new? she asked. And when I said yes, she asked how I got started on it. I swear she’s like a dog with a bone, LOL! I thought about it a moment and then told her I could only describe how it happened with this current story because the last one didn’t happen this way and the next may be even different.

A few weeks ago I was talking to Brenda (otherwise known as queenbee to us at Yellow Rose) and something said in that conversation sparked an idea for another story. It was just a tiny ember that just wouldn’t die. During the next week, I thought about it , stewed about it, perused it, pondered it, and even dreamed about it, until one day it grew into a wildfire. I called Brenda and said, “I’ve got it all figured out! Do you want to hear it?”

Brenda probably didn’t have a clue what I was talking about at that moment, but because she is such a dear friend and knows me well, she never asked what I was talking about, but just said ‘of course’ and I told her my new story idea.

After typing up a rough draft of a logline and a short premise and some random notes, I emailed writer friends Sandy S and Michelle and asked them if they would read something and tell me what they thought. Because they are dear friends, they never asked what I was talking about and just said ‘of course’. And I sent them my new story idea.

I called another good writer friend, Denise, and I asked her if she would listen to something and tell me what she thinks. Because she is a dear friend, she never asked what I was talking about and just said ‘of course’. And I will share my story idea.

I have been listing things I want to have happen in the book and filling in plot points and character arcs and thinking of themes and settings and such. I haven’t actually written the first word because the first line just hasn’t come to me yet. But it will.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. LOL!

I do want to say thanks to these wonderful friends who I can call up any time and, without any questions and because they are who they are, knowing I value their opinion, will listen to me and share their true opinions and root for me and pull for me and even kick my butt for me when it needs it.

And I appreciate GW who puts up with me forgetting things and who listens to me pitch my story ideas or work out a plot problem and he never thinks I am weird when he asks what I am thinking and I launch into a long tirade on my writing and somehow, someway, he understands me.

~Sandy

Ah…the land of kilts and clans, bagpipes and drums, whiskey and beer, haggis and bangers, naps and tatties, dancing and singing…

GW and I went with some friends to the annual Scottish Festival and Highland games Saturday. I tell you…the Scots and Irish certainly know how to party!

We started at 9:30 and the weather was so nice although the wind was blowing a bit hard for my taste. I hate my hair to be mussed. But by the time 3:00 rolled around, I was begging for it to blow harder, hair or no! I doubt it gets this hot in Scotland.

We got brave and tried several new things. First on the list was a beginners Gaelic lesson. Not sure if I could ever master that difficult language but we did okay learning some basic greetings. And GW really got into the swing of things and did very well singing Old MacDonald had a farm in Gaelic. Especially the I AI I AI O part! Must have some Scot in him way back!

Next, we stopped to watch a bunch of big guys in kilts (BIG guys…I dare you to call them skirts in their faces!) throwing these big ball things called hammers. Evidently, the one who throws it the farthest wins. You know, men stuff. Always competing.

Around lunch, we visited the food court and, of course, we all had to try some original Scottish fare. We tried Scottish meat pies (pastry with meat) and it was a little bland, but not bad. Then we tried bangers and mash (little sausages and mashed potatoes covered in onion gravy) – again, not too bad.

Then we all got our courages up to try haggis. Okay, if you don’t know what haggis is, I’m not going to tell you…just google it, my friend, and clap your hands for our bravery! Tried it once, don’t have to try it again, LOL! But you know…when in Rome…or Scotland I should say.

To reward ourselves we hit the funnel cakes and the scones with strawberries and whipped cream. Worth the calories, trust me! After all that, along with my favorite drink – pear cider, and just a wee bit, I promise 🙂 – I was ready for a nap.

But we perservered and watched caber tossing, Irish dancing, music from harp bands to the Celtic rock band The Kildares. We left around 3:30 and ran a few errands and then came home and crashed big time! But it was so much fun!!!!

One of the Bagpipe Marching Bands:

One of the many breweries serving all kinds of beer. They even let you sample before you buy. I was a wuss and stayed with the pear cider. But I did try a sample of the others.

I have no clue who those people were, but they wouldn’t get out of the way! Everyone takes their time and like to talk and visit.

This is where we bought our bangers and mash and haggis.

Here it is – my first (and last) taste of haggis. The haggis is the brown stuff. It’s served with mash potatoes and rutabagas. Proof for posterity that I did try it!

We B rockin’ with this group called the Kildares! Soon after this picture was taken a girl with a fiddle joined the group and it was awesome! I plan on downloading some of their music to my iPod.

This group was called Clandestine. Due to the heat, the bagpiper was having trouble tuning his instrument so he took it apart to work with it. It confirms that the bagpipe is not a native Texas instrument, LOL!

Okay, girls, here’s what we’ve always wanted to know but afraid to ask. But, take my word for it not ALL of them wear shorts underneath, LOL!

This is called the Caber Toss. GW did a great job with these pics:

This kind of dancing takes so much stamina. Their heels are not allowed to touch the stage during the performance.

Some funny sayings I saw:

‘Some see it as a glass half empty.
Some see it as a glass half full.
But an Irishman just asks: Are you going to drink that?’

‘Be careful meddling in the affairs of dragons.
For they find you crunchy and taste good with ketchup.’

Seen on the t-shirts of some of the women:
‘Kilt inspector – spread’em lad!’

If you ever get a chance to attend one of these festivals, I highly recommend it.

BTW, do you know what the Gaelic saying in the title of this blog means?

…a 100,000 welcomes!

~Sandy

I finished the first draft of my book!!!

A day early and 665 words over the bet with GW. We changed it to 45,000 because I had a whole week I missed of writing when I was busy judging for a couple of contests. Duty calls, you know.

Not that I would let anyone read it at this point. It is a really rough draft and will take quite a bit of revision. Hey, even Nora Roberts says she spits out her story and then goes back through at least twice and revises. And I am really excited about going through and shaping it up. I figure it will end up around 60,000 words once I am through revising it.

But I actually wrote and finished something and it feels so good!

And, instead of getting a Kindle, I opted for a 10 inch Netbook. And I love it, love it, love it! It is small enough to take anywhere with you and can fit into a large purse. It has WiFi capabilities so no matter where I go, I can log on and check emails, surf the net, etc. Not that I wanted one for that reason, of course LOL! But it is so convenient to haul around instead of my big laptop I had to connect and disconnect to everything it is hooked up to.

Here is a pic I pulled off the net to show how compact it is. Mine is the black one:

Now I have no reason not to write anytime, anywhere. I love it, love it, love it! Did I say that already? A friend asked why I didn’t want jewelry. My reply was that I am more interested in things that boot up! She just shook her head. It may have been in disgust, but I’d prefer to think it was amazement.

Poor GW! No double compound saw thingy for him! At least not until later. Like maybe Christmas…

But he tells me it was a win, win situation for him. Bless his sweet heart!

Gaw, I feel so rusty and awkward typing on this blog. It’s only been three months since the last time.

Off to start revisions…and do homework on a online workshop I am involved in…and jot down notes on a new story that is rolling around in my head…

Have a beautiful spring day!

~Sandy

…putting everything in front of my writing!

Things I can cross off my list though:

• Taxes done
• Read book for published contest
• Unpublished entries critiqued
• Some (not all) critiques done for critique group
• Checking account balanced
• Writer’s group checking account balanced
• Attended meeting at writer’s group (guest speaker Rosemary Clement Moore and she was great!)
• Grocery shopping done
• Gumbo made
• Laundry done
• Ironing NOT done
• Yearly visit to the Fort Worth Home Show
• Started a friend’s critique that she wants to submit next week to her editor.

Wow! It’s amazing how life in general can suck every minute of your day. All of a sudden it is like 3:00 on a Sunday afternoon and you wonder where the weekend went.

But it is actually hard to believe that it is already Thursday with the weekend only a day away. I am definitely getting some writing caught up!

And my word meter is still moving albeit slooooowwwlly! Too slow evidently by the smirk on G.W.’s face.

~Sandy

I realized something last night. 5400 plus words written (I forgot to look and change the meter this morning), I think I found the REAL beginning of my story. Where the REAL action starts. Where the REAL me wants to chunk all I have written and begin again.

But I will not do that. Not this time. Not only will MY cheering squad kill me – GW has his own (waving at you guys and you know who you are) – but I have realized that everyone goes through this and it is easily taken care of during revisions. And revisions. And more revisions.

I’m actually looking forward to taking this bare bones story and fleshing it out and layering it to make it whole. But first….I have to finish it. And I am excited to see where it is going to go.

Um…I also realized that, in my haste, when I placed the bet with GW, he doesn’t have to DO anything to win. I have to fail.

Dream on, Babe! Not happening!

Looking forward to the weekend!

Happy Friday the 13th!

~Sandy